Powerful 7.6-magnitude quake triggers a tsunami on Japan’s northern coast

A tsunami warning is displayed on a television in Yokohama, near Tokyo, on Monday.

A powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck late Monday off northern Japan, triggering a tsunami of up to 70 centimetres in Pacific coast communities and warnings of potentially higher surges, the Japanese Meteorological Agency said.

Several people were injured, media reports said.

The quake struck at about 11:15 p.m. in the Pacific Ocean about 80 kilometres off the coast of Aomori, the northernmost prefecture of Japan’s main Honshu island, the agency said.

A tsunami of 70 centimetres was measured in Kuji port in Iwate prefecture, just south of Aomori, and tsunami levels of up to 50 centimetres struck other coastal communities in the region, the agency said.

The agency issued an alert for potential tsuna